Crispy Toast

I found myself doing a bank transfer this morning and realised that I am taking my new activity very seriously to be depositing money to officially become a member of the Toast club.

By Toast Club I mean the Toastmasters Club of Copenhagen. I chatted to a guy I met at a party one night and he told me about the public speaking school close to my apartment. I thought I would give it a go and observe the participants. After 35 min into the evening, I made up my mind to join when a young girl got up on the stage and started her speech... I wish you had been there to feel as inspired as I was. This girl was flawless, innocent, a beautiful smile and and she had a presence ...she also had a Stutter. I know I feel uncomfortable when I speak to someone with a stutter and patiently wait for them to get out what they were trying to say ten minutes prior, If I feel that level of uncomfortability, I can only imagine what the person stuttering must feel like. It must be so frustrating to want to say something but it wont come out, it probably effects relationships, you receive judgement, people might even think you are slow and treat you differently. 

When i saw this girl on stage, how she carried herself, how she was aware of her disability but persevered and gave a speech of courage and conviction, a speech that spoke to my heart. It was the kind of heartfelt speech that makes you wanna go up and just hug that person, i never get that feeling but with this young girl I did, not because i felt sorry for her but because of how proud and amazed i was of her. She spoke of taking a jump, bungy jumping into mid air and taking the risk, that life was beautiful and should be treasured and that we should challenge ourselves like she had by speaking in front of so many people and being vulnerable in order to grow and gain courage.

Public speaking or the fear thereof

is known as Glossaphobia.

Glossa means tongue and phobia means fear or dread.

The fear of speaking in front of an audience is ranked as the number one fear in the world. People fear public speaking more so than death, spiders, darkness, heights, flying and confines spaces.

Another interesting fact is that more men than woman seek out help for public speaking anxiety, I can confirm that as most of my toastmaster group is made up of men.

So I will soon be giving my first speech to a bunch of strange faces and an evaluator. I am excited, not nervous. I have no issues speaking in front of people,my writing skills are acceptable and so you ask ...why did i join? It seems each person in toastmasters has a goal, a deficiency, a quirk, a challenge...it can be a nervous twitch, squint eyes, a stutter, social anxiety, a business person trying to extend their capabilities. There are tons of reasons why people join. Having said that, there are very few that last, I think some reach a level of satisfaction and just don't come back or they miss a few meetings and feel awkward returning or it just isn't a priority.

I am joining to challenge myself, I want to be better, I want to make a good thing GREAT. I want to inspire and capture an audience and I want to master my public speaking talents. I have a plan, a strategy, a map...one day i would like to return home to South Africa and start up a foundation for children in need. I want to give back instead of Take Take Take.. i want to make a difference even if it small and I want to get people involved who have good hearts but not sure how they fit into the making a difference arena.

If I am going to do this and achieve this dream; i need a plan. I may be a million miles away from home but I can start preparing myself... so I have taken public speaking lessons. I figured that If i want to lead a foundation, have people believe in my dream and share my vision, I need to be an Excellent communicator, someone that people believe in because they will in turn believe in my cause.

I want to use my voice to make a difference